Luis Robert Jr. ripped a pair of doubles Saturday in the White Sox’ 6-2 win over the hapless Athletics, but the All-Star center fielder has long established himself as the bright spot in this doomed season.
Yoan Moncada shrugged off Eloy Jimenez being intentionally walked in front of him in the third inning to clock his first right-handed home run of the year, but his future is clouded by back problems even after a game-breaking three-run blast.
For the first time all year, the Sox looked comfortably a cut above the only MLB franchise going through a larger identity crisis than their own. But this deep into a season — and a week — from hell, the brightest takeaway looks like … Lenyn Sosa?
“It seems like he’s barreling everything up,” Andrew Benintendi said. “Putting good swings on the ball, putting together good at-bats and just spraying all over the yard.”
The 23-year-old Venezuelan infielder went 2-for-4 while hitting his second home run in as many nights, and knew he had launched his fourth home run of the season right after contact in the second. Sosa’s third homer in a week gives him a .333/.333/.654 hitting line in eight games since being recalled Aug. 18.
“I feel good,” Sosa said through an interpreter. “Comfortable, calm, with more knowledge of the strike zone here.”
Benintendi has four more years left on his deal, so his right hand feeling good enough to smack his third home run in his last five games might be more meaningful for the Sox’ future. But the dog days of a lost season are made for guys such as Sosa, who has always hit enough in Triple-A to deserve an opportunity, and always struggled too mightily in the majors to make it a lengthy one.
The first two figures in Sosa’s season slash line still begin with a one, even after Saturday night. Despite revamped swing mechanics that put him on time for the fastball, and a reduced chase rate in the minors, Sosa’s approach fell apart upon -arrival in his first two major-league stints. Since being recalled before last weekend’s series in Colorado, Sosa showed the first signs of calming down at the plate against big-league pitching.
“He’s got some pop, everybody knows it,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “But we also want him to stay short, and put the ball in play as well. Every once in a while, you’ll see a big swing. He’ll get out of his approach that we’re looking for. And then somebody will say something to him and you’ll see it right back.”
That process played out once more, as Sosa came up hacking in his fourth at-bat after loud contact in his first two trips to the dish. But there’s a developmental focus with the Sox, now that Sosa and catcher Korey Lee are getting extended run.
“A couple of our guys were right on him like ‘Shorten up,’ ” Grifol said. “We definitely don’t want to turn him into a high-strikeout, just-power guy, because that’s not the type of guy he is.”
It’s true for most of the organization, but the reason to watch Sosa down the stretch is that the immediate future of the Sox’ second-base position is murky.
Elvis Andrus is on an expiring deal, Romy Gonzalez will be coming off shoulder surgery next spring and the Sox will have enough issues to address across the diamond that any reason Sosa gives them to concentrate resources elsewhere will be welcome.
“I feel much better for sure, just trying to minimize the movement of my hands and put the barrel on the ball and put the ball in play,” Sosa said. “Now, it’s a matter to make the adjustments for the breaking ball in the dirt. That’s something I have to work on.”
There’s a month left of season, with no greater purpose than seeing Sosa do just that.
